Maintaining and developing our professional learning
networks is a practice that, as leaders, we have a responsibility to sustain
over the course of our career. I believe that in doing this, we allow ourselves
to not only support our staff, but also connect with our community.
When I think of the continual development of my own PLN, I
believe that it will be imperative that I allot time for my development and use
of new technology and education innovation. If there is one thing that I have
learned throughout this program, it is that, as a principal, if I do not
structure a time for this, I will never take time to do this. As a leader, I
hope to build a habit of taking time either at the end of the day on Friday or
Monday morning before our staff arrives at school to read through the various
blogs, websites, etc. and search out some of the newest happenings in
education. I believe that this will fill two needs for me. First, I believe
that it will help me stay current in my practices and allow me to better
connect and support my staff and students, and also fill my bucket and refresh
my perspective so that I can always bring the energy and passion to my position
that this field (and any leadership role) calls for daily.
I also want to develop my own PLN through collaboration with
my peers. I hope that, as I want my teachers to have PLCs, that I will maintain
a PLC of my own that is made up of people I went through my administrative
program with, mentors of mine, and other leaders in education who I meet along
the way. My goal in this would be that we would be able to share ideas and
amongst one another. If possible, even a monthly blog reflection (possibly more
as one of us were to see something) by one of us followed by some sort of
informal meeting to discuss and collaborate around the reflection is something
I would like to develop. This would allow learning to take place from one
another and would continue our development as instructional, digital, and
societal leaders.
In influencing others in my building, I believe that
modeling (NETS A Standard 3.C) being a digital learner and supporting
innovation will be very important to the development of my staff. I also
believe that, as we (district and building leadership teams) do attempt to
implement new technology, we are thoughtful about ensuring we have the platform
to support the technology, ensuring that we select technology with a specific
purpose and not “just for the sake of technology”, and ensuring we provide the
time to for teachers to both be trained on this and develop this as a tool for
their classroom (NETS A Standard 3.A). If we can ensure these things, we have a
much better chance of integrating technology efficiently and effectively in our
building.
I agree that we have to create habits for ourselves on staying current on ed info. If we can create these habits now, it will be easier to sustain as we get busier in our future principal roles. I think it also shows staff of staying current and looking for resources to help if needed. I plan to take one great article a week and plug it into our staff blog and try to create habits of looking at current information as a group.
ReplyDeleteI like how you already have a plan for how you are going to stay in contact with the educational world. I also don't typically take the time to stay up to date, but I think that is an essential part of being a leader. I think that this will help you with the last point you make about incorporating technology that is helpful, not just cool looking.
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